European Plaice (Pleuronectes platessa)

European Plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) – a representative of the family of flatfish (Pleuronectidae), belonging to the boreal-Arctic fauna. It is distributed throughout the Atlantic coast of Europe to the eastern regions of the White Sea as well as around Iceland and in the Baltic Sea. The Barents Sea population is distributed over a large water area from the Finmarken shoal in the west to the Gusinaya and Kolguev shoals in the north and east. The body length is up to 85 cm, usually 35–40 cm. The spawning occurs in the coastal zone in February and June, with its height observed in April at 2–2.5 °C at depths up to 200 m. The spawn is pelagic. Pleuronectes platessa makes significant seasonal migration, moving from the Murmansk coast, where the wintering and spawning grounds are, to the eastern and north-eastern areas of the sea for battering in May, and then migrate back to the shores of Murmansk. It feeds on bivalves and small benthic crustaceans. It is a valuable commercial fish.

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